Abstract
Flow separation is mostly an undesirable phenomenon and boundary layer control is an important technique for the separation problems on airfoils. A synthetic jet actuator is considered as a promising candidate for flow control applications because of its compact nature and ability to generate momentum without a need for fluidic plumbing . In the flow fields where the separation control is not needed, parasitic drag can be avoided with the jet flow turned-off. If the control device operates only when it is necessary and can adaptively suppress flow separation, the ideal flow corresponding to the flow under its design condition is always attained without any changes in design of airfoils. In this study, wind tunnel tests for an airfoil installed active boundary layer control system using the synthetic jet were performed. The experimental results indicate that the maximum lift coefficient increases 11%, and the stall angle is to rise by 4 deg in contrast to the case under no control. It was confirmed that our proposed system can suppress stall on the NACA0012 airfoil and the aerodynamic performance of the airfoil can be enhanced.
